First time seeing Crown Point and Merrillville this season. Merrillville is #1 in the Coaches' Poll and #2 in the AP Poll. Crown Point is having a solid year and entered the game at 13-2.
The first quarter was all Spike Albrecht. Albrecht started hot and had 9 points in the first period. Merrillville didn't get many great looks and their offense was out of rhythm. Crown Point held a 15-10 lead after 8 minutes of play.
Merrillville started to click more in the second quarter. Josh Hogan provided Merrillville a spark and Jeremiah Jones was able to get a couple of baskets to go. Albrecht was held scoreless in the second period after his great first quarter. Merrillville cut Crown Point's lead to 22-20 by halftime.
It was a back and forth game in the third quarter. Edward Seay started to produce more for Merrillville. He showed he has nice hands on a couple of plays and rebounded much better than he has in the past. It was Seay how gave Merrillville the lead going to the fourth quarter with his tip-in at the buzzer. The Pirates were ahead 34-33 after three.
Albrecht got back on track in the fourth quarter. He only scored 3 points in the second and third quarter combined. He was the only making plays for Crown Point down the stretch. If he wasn't scoring he was drawing defenders and setting up teammates for easy looks. Every time that Merrillville looked like they were going to pull away Albrecht would make a play or two to get CP back in the game. Merrillville shot well from the line down the stretch though and held on for the hard fought 58-54 victory.
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Spike Albrecht 6'1 PG 2011 Crown Point
Albrecht is a quick, strong point guard that sees the floor really well and can shoot it consistently to 24 feet. He failed to finish a couple of plays at the rim that I would have liked him to. He's crafty with the dribble looking for seams in the defense and using change of pace to get by defenders. My question would be can he defend at a D1 level? I think he would struggle against most D1 PG's. He could probably make it work with his strength and basketball IQ though. LM prospect that would be a huge pickup for a D2/NAIA.
Jeremiah Jones 6'3 SG 2011 Merrillville
Jones is a really nice player. He can do a little bit of everything on the offensive end although he isn't an elite athlete. He doesn't have that extra gear that would allow him to blow by defenders although he does have some quickness. He could be a really nice MM player but it seems like he wants to go HM which could lead him to attending prep school next year.
Edward Seay 6'8 C 2012 Merrillville
Seay had a good, solid game with 8 points and 9 rebounds. Seay needs to develop his back to the basket game more. He had one nice move where Smoot over played him to one side and he drop-stepped for a layup. He has the size and length to be a good MM PF. He doesn't have the skill set to play at that level yet though. Right now, he is a borderline LM prospect. I have to question his work ethic because he has T.J. Lux (all-time leading scorer and rebounder in Northern Illinois history)working with him so he is getting good low post coaching.
Josh Hogan 6'3 SF 2011 Merrillville
Hogan is a glue guy for Merrillville. He's a good athlete that plays with a high motor. He can do a variety of things on the court and shoots it pretty well. NAIA/D3 prospect for programs that want someone to rebound, defend, and occasionally score.
Brandon Clark 6'0 PG 2011 Merrillville
Clark was only 2-8 from the field by my count. Not his best performance and took a couple of questionable shots in the first half. He could be a good point guard at the D2/NAIA level.
Jared Smoot 6'10 C 2011 Crown Point
Smoot didn't do much offensively (only had 6 points) but he did have 7 rebounds. He is posting much better than he did in the past. Smoot has really nice form at the free-throw line. By his upperclassmen years at Navy, he could be a really good player. He has the building blocks of size, great body, some aggressiveness, and pretty good hands. He didn't play basketball competitively until high school.
Sean Crary 6'1 SG 2011 Crown Point
Crary is a decent athlete that can get to the rim off of the dribble or hit a mid-range jumper. He did struggle from the line, but I think he could be an undersized SG at the NAIA/D3 level.
Tokumbo Fashawe 6'4 PF 2011 Merrillville
Fashawe is your classic hard working post man. He is strong and attacks rebounds on both ends. He could be an undersized PF at the NAIA/D3 level because of his toughness and strength.
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